Double Trouble
by Jemmiah
Summary: Master Jinn has a new project...
1. Default Chapter Title

TITLE: Double Trouble?

Part One

(With thanks to Jane Jinn for letting borrow An-Paj)

******************************

"I'm bored." Jemmiah grumbled.

An-Paj nodded.

"Yes, so you've said. At least ten times in the last half hour."

"But there's nothing for me to do." Jemmy turned large, pleading, copper colored eyes to her jailer. "I hate just lying here. I've counted the tiles on the ceiling so often I'm beginning to imagine extra!"

"Hallucinations?" An-Paj asked wickedly. "Well, there's nothing that can't be cured with the liberal use of calming injections…"

"I never said that." The child replied, her round eyes getting bigger.

"Just as well for you." The healer smiled as he tried to make sense of the latest data regarding his young patient.

Patient? He laughed at the very notion of this girl being patient. She'd been in here for two weeks now which had been fine whilst she was too ill to misbehave. Ever since her health had slowly began to improve the healers had been collectively bombarded with "I'm bored!" at regular intervals. He couldn't blame her for being a Corellian pain in the rear. The treatment was not very pleasant and had made her quite sick to begin with until they had sorted out the right medication for her. The wasting disease had taken its toll on any sense of humor that she might have possessed.

"Perhaps if I could get up?" The ten-year-old asked.

"Absolutely not." An-Paj said sternly.

"But you said I was getting better."

"And so you are. But you are still a long way from being fully recovered and you don't have the strength."

As the girl scowled at him from underneath dark eyebrows, An-Paj took that determined expression as one of potential mutiny.

"I mean it." He emphasized. "You put so much as one foot out of these sheets without my permission and I'll have someone sat beside you at all times to make sure that you stay there."

"You know something?" Jemmy glared at him.

"What?"

"I think you are perfectly horrible." She stuck out her tongue at him and then pulled the blankets over her head.

An-Paj shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

"Not perfectly horrible, no. Nobody's perfect. Very horrible will do me just fine." He said as he regarded the lump under the bed.

******************************

An hour later and Jemmy was still bored.

Master Jinn was going to pop in later to see how she was doing and bring Obi-Wan with him. 

//That's a damn silly name// Jemmy thought with a sigh.

In the meantime, she was stuck in here with only the walls for company. Well, the screens at any rate. She hated the idea of being stared at and so she had begged An-Paj to close them and he'd agreed at first, knowing that she had been to unwell to get out of bed unassisted. But now…

She still wasn't well enough but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

He'd pulled them half round by way of a compromise.

She hardly knew anyone except for the few healers who had been called to attend her, An-Paj himself and his rather goofy padawan whose name began with an S, and Master Jinn and his rat tailed apprentice. Slowly but surely, Jemmiah was beginning to go mad. At her own inability to get better, more than anything else. Her appetite was non existent. The only reason she ate the few mouthfuls of garbage she was given was to get An-Paj off her case and more often then not it made her sick anyway. But she'd be damned if she'd just lie here and suffer.

She knew she could get up. She knew she could walk.

So, when it seemed as if there was nobody about Jemmiah slipped herself out of the covers and shifted round to the side of her bed, feet placed flatly on the cold floor.

//Oh, c'mon! This is easy! You've been able to do this for over eight and a bit years//

Funny how suddenly even a floor seemed scary. If she could just prove to herself that it was as easy as she believed then she could pester An-Paj to let her up and about the next time he came to see her.

"That's it Jemster. Show the galaxy that Corellians can't ever be beaten…" she encouraged herself.

The foot went one pace forward. Jemmy grabbed hold of the table next to her to give herself some stability whilst she slid the other foot along infront of its counterpart. Her feet were obeying her!

Unfortunately, the rest of her body wasn't. The knees buckled twice and she fell flat on her face.

"Oh, that's not fair!" she growled. "That is sooooooo not fair. Now what?"

Well, she reckoned she had two choices. Either she could try and attract attention to herself, which meant that An-Paj would make good his threat of an imposed babysitter or she could try and get back to bed. Either way she didn't reckon much for her chances.

A huge shadow cast itself over her and with a gulp she persuaded herself to look up -

Into the towering frame of Qui-Gon Jinn.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked in amazement as she lay spread-eagled on the ground.

"I got bored of counting the tiles on the ceiling and thought I'd try the ones on the floor." She managed to say in a tremulous voice.

"Why don't I believe you?" Qui-Gon asked as he bent down nearer her level. "What happened?"

Jemmiah considered lying but knew it would be a pointless exercise. And anyhow, it would take a lot of practise before she could face those blue eyes and lie convincingly. She had the feeling that he was reading her every thought and didn't much like it.

"I…I fell." She mumbled.

"How?"

"I tried to get up. I thought I could walk, you know?" she asked defensively. "Then my legs went all wobbly and I hit the floor."

"You are not supposed to be out of bed." Qui-Gon reproved her. "You are in that bed for a reason."

"But I hate it! I just feel miserable. And I have nothing to do. I don't know anyone and…and…" she was beginning to work herself into a state.

Qui-Gon picked her up, something that usually would have had her gritting her teeth at the embarrassment of being carried like a baby, but strangely enough she didn't seem to mind too much. Instead of putting her back on the sheets he sat down on the bed and put her on his lap.

"You look tired. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"My body is tired. It keeps wanting to pass out, but my mind is awake." She complained. "I can't help it."

"Shhhh." He calmed her. "I know this whole thing isn't your fault. Nobody would want to be stuck in here given the choice. And I know it's not been easy for you to adjust to these surroundings or the people, especially when you've been ill. But it will get better. You've just got to give it a chance."

"It'll get better? Soon?" Jemmy asked.

Qui-Gon smiled.

"That depends on you. If you keep pushing yourself when you're not ready then you are going to do yourself more harm than good."

He put his hands on her shoulders, and for some reason she couldn't understand her eyelids seemed to grow very heavy. Still she fought the urge to sleep.

"Where's Obi-Wan?" she asked with a yawn.

"He's visiting his friend, Zac V'Aladee. I said he could have some time to himself whilst I came to visit."

"You were supposed to visit later on." She admonished sleepily; feeling his hands bore into her shoulders.

Qui-Gon picked up the comb at the side of the table and started to brush her long, wavy hair.

"I thought my hair was unmanageable." He said as he dragged the comb through the thick, chestnut strands. "It's all tangled together."

"Is it?" she asked with her eyes almost shut.

The master persisted with the unravelling of the girl's locks until it looked like her head was about to nod.

"Tangles? Are you asleep?"

"No."

"Why not?" he said as the hands grew heavy on her shoulders again.

"Because that's what you want me to do and I never do what people….want…me… to." She said as she drifted off.

Qui-Gon returned her to the bed and pulled the covers over her.

"Well done." An-Paj's voice behind him made him jump; suddenly bringing home the fact that they were at the infirmary. "I never thought I'd see the day when you would be able to tame a wildcat like that."

"She is not wild." Qui-Gon frowned. "She's just had a very bad start in life. There's nothing that can't be put right with time and patience."

"Patience. There's that word again." The healer sighed. "Have they managed to trace her relatives yet?"

"No." Qui-Gon shook his head. "We've heard nothing."

"Well, once she's better it will be someone else's problem so I doubt you will have to worry." An-Paj clapped him on the back. 

Qui-Gon stood up, remembering. Another time, another opportunity he had let drift by and all because he hadn't had the courage to do what needed to be done. He couldn't change the past or blot out the mistake but perhaps he could somehow atone for it now…make sure it didn't happen again.

And he had promised.

"I'm going to apply for her temporary custody." He stated.

It was one of the few times he could ever recollect the healer being speechless. Well, almost.

"Qui-Gon…" he said eventually once his voice had returned. "Are you sure you know what you're taking on?"

"No." Qui-Gon replied truthfully. "I haven't a clue. But I 'm sure I'll find out along the way."

"The council might not let you."

"Hang the council." Jinn snapped. "I'll follow the code up to when my conscience permits it. But that's where it ends. If Mace tries to stop me he'll have a fight on his hands."

"It's not just Mace." An-Paj shook his head. "What about Master Gallia? And Yoda? Is he really going to let you…"

"We shall just have to see, won't we. But I'm not backing down on this one." Qui-Gon looked back at the sleeping figure in the bed. "I'll be back later on this afternoon. I shall be bringing my padawan to visit, if I may. He seems to get on with her really well."

"Double trouble." Muttered An-Paj as Qui-Gon took his leave, the straight-backed Jedi master retreating through the ward with a silent but brisk step.

"Looks like Master Jinn has found another project." He sighed.


	2. Default Chapter Title

TITLE: Double Trouble?

Part 2

(Again, thanks Jane Jinn for letting me borrow An-Paj)

********************

Two days later:

"Look, I CAN walk! Honest!"

"That's what you told yourself the last time." Qui-Gon replied. "There's no way you can possibly have got better in just two days."

The petulant look edged its way back onto her face. Qui-Gon was beginning to become very much accustomed to the vast repertory of facial contortions but this one was by all accounts her favorite.

"Stay in bed." He warned her.

"You sound just like An-Paj." She protested.

"The day I sound like a healer is the day they put me in a home for retired Jedi." Qui-Gon answered. "An-Paj did tell me that if you carry on getting better the way you have then perhaps at the end of the week he might consider letting you try to walk with supervision."

Jemmiah's face lit up with a wide smile.

"I think that's the first time I've seen you do that since we brought you back." Qui-Gon sounded somewhat surprised, but smiled right along with her.

"If you had only the ceiling to stare at you wouldn't exactly be a bundle of joy." Jemmy pointed out.

She looked about her.

"Is it the end of the week yet?" she asked.

"No! And you asking about it is not going to make it arrive any faster."

"But I'm bored!"

"Jemmiah…"

"I can't help it! I need to get out of here before I try slitting my throat with that plasti spoon." She nodded at the tray where her virtually untouched food lay.

Qui-Gon shook his head.

"Jemmiah, if you don't eat you won't get well."

"But it's horrible." She lowered her voice. "It taste's of Nerf's pi…"

"Pardon?" An-Paj interrupted as he opened the privacy curtains and joined the twosome.

"It's not very nice, is it?" Jemmy pushed the tray even further away. "I thought people were supposed to come in here to get better? There's no way that would induce me to recover, even if I was hungry."

An-Paj took that in.

"Still not eating?" he asked.

"I can't! I feel sick when I eat." She huffed. "Maybe if you fired the cook…"

Qui-Gon actually tittered at that and left An-Paj feeling rather annoyed at the pair of them.

"Are you going to eat this or not?" he asked in a steady, over-patient voice.

"Sorry." Jemmiah said.

"Well, let me put this in a way you will understand." A renegade smile suddenly appeared from nowhere. "NO FOOD = ETERNAL BEDREST."

"But that's not fair! You said I could get out at the weekend." Her face fell, causing Qui-Gon to feel very sorry for her.

//She's well and truly got him hooked// thought the healer with amusement.

"An-Paj, that is a little unfair." Qui-Gon replied.

"Life is unfair my friend. Those are my terms I'm afraid. Take it or leave it."

"I'll be sick again." Jemmiah grabbed hold of the tray and then shot him a poisonous look that took even the healer by surprise. "And it will be all your fault."

An-Paj leaned in closer.

"I know, I'm a heartless individual." He grinned. He watched her scoop a mouthful of something green and vaguely spinach like and hold it in a wavering hand.

"Eat it." He smiled.

Jemmy stared at the stuff as if it were a lump of pure poison they had asked her to swallow. Concentrating, she brought the plasti fork up to her mouth.

"I can't." she shook her head.

"Yes you can. Go on." An-Paj encouraged her.

"Bassalads!" the girl cursed.

"Pardon?"

Jemmy looked apologetically at the two of them.

"It's just a word. It's used to express discontent with life in general." She looked down at the fork again. "And this Nerf's fodder in particular."

"Jemmiah…" warned Qui-Gon.

"That's not fair. Two against one; what chance do I stand?"

"None at all. Better give in graciously." Jinn answered.

The Corellian girl sniffed in the face of adversity and hurriedly shovelled the green matter down her throat for fear of it coming straight back up again.

"That was evil." She said after a moment had passed.

"Don't exaggerate." An-Paj smirked.

"I'm not! You work here; you don't eat the food the patients get! Have you EVER tried any of their food?"

An-Paj frowned. He didn't think he had…

"See?" Jemmy exclaimed. "You haven't, have you? So how do you know that it's good if you won't give it a go?"

"She's got a point, my friend." Qui-Gon agreed.

//There he goes again, siding with her// An-Paj couldn't believe how quickly the two had adapted to each other. //I really hope the matter of her temporary custody is approved or else he's going to be very upset//

"It can't be all that bad." He refused to concede his point.

"Try some then." Qui-Gon dared.

"You try some." Countered the healer.

"Uh-uh. I don't think so. I've been a patient in here on several occasions. I know what it's like."

"I'll try some if you try some." An-Paj stated.

"Fine. You can go first."

An-Paj shrugged, picking up an unused spoon at the side of the tray and slowly dipped it into the slimy substance. Jemmiah and Qui-Gon watched in interest as the healer brought the spoon past his lips…

He chewed the mouthful of food for what seemed to be an excessive amount of time.

"Well?" asked Jemmy.

"I'm sure it must be very nutritious." An-Paj answered.

"Ha ha! I win." Jemmy crowed.

"Not in the least." The healer dabbed at his mouth with a white napkin. "Because you are still going to have to eat it all."

Jemmiah tried to wheedle him with her large eyes, but An-Paj was having none of it.

"It won't work. I am a healer and have sold my soul to the devil if you believe some of the regular patients in here." He replied. "If you haven't made significant inroads on that food by the time I come back then I am going to have to consider putting the tube feeder back in and that will almost certainly ruin any slight chance you have of getting up and about come the end of the week."

Jemmiah looked at him balefully.

"I hope you'll forgive me for saying this An-Paj, sir." She said humbly. "But I really want to throw this at you."

"You won't have the energy unless you eat that food." He pointed at the tray. "Get to it."

*****************************

An-Paj eventually relented. The girl's body might not be healing very quickly but her mind was sharp and lively and extremely resentful of her situation. Grateful to be alive, yes but also highly unhappy that she was so sick. He'd let Qui-Gon push her about in a wheel chair, showing her all over the temple whilst the girl struggled to memorize who everyone was and where everything led to. It was all perhaps a bit much. She'd had no real appreciation up until that point of how big everything was.

One more day and then she could try walking once more.

To have this brief taste of freedom and then be locked back in her cage was excruciating for Jemmiah. The minutes between Master Jinn and Obi-Wan's visits would drag relentlessly whilst she was once more left to twiddle her thumbs and bemoan her bad luck.

And all the time the wheelchair lay propped up against the wall. All folded neatly, tormenting her inability to walk.

Would it matter if she….?

Nobody need know that An-Paj hadn't said she could. And Master Jinn was supposed to be meeting some politician or other, so he couldn't say anything to the contrary.

On short little turn in the chair.

"Do it now kid, before you lose your nerve." Jemmy muttered as she made a weak lunge for the chair, dragging it to her bed.

This would be fun…

********************

Valorum had been in politics long enough to know his way about the intricacies of the senate but he didn't know his way about the Jedi temple. There were one or two official matters that he had been discussing with the council, but they had been dealt with surprisingly quickly. He had arranged to meet his old friend Qui-Gon Jinn at noontime in the refectory, however his schedule was now thrown into disarray. He'd (very foolishly) assured Masters Windu and Yoda that he could navigate his way round the temple and locate his friend but the truth was that he hadn't the slightest idea where he was…

"Good one, Chancellor." He said sarcastically to himself. 

The temple was so huge that he could probably spend the rest of his life wandering round the place and STILL not find where he was searching for.

A sort of squeaking noise caught his attention and he turned round.

"Hello?" he asked hesitantly.

"Hi." Jemmy regarded him from her seat in the wheelchair. "Don't s'pose you know anything about these contraptions, do you? Only I gave it a real dunt against the wall when I went into the turbo lift. I think I've irreparably damaged the right wheel and An-Paj will be mad as heck with me."

Valorum stared at the surprisingly eloquent young lady infront of him, holding a conversation with him as would two adults. She surely couldn't have been more than seven years of age…

"I'm not really an expert when it comes to wheelchairs." He said apologetically, wondering who she was. "I'm sorry."

"No problem, just a thought." Jemmy shrugged. "I've escaped the infirmary. Thought I'd get a change of scenery."

"Are you well enough to leave the infirmary?" Valorum asked. "You don't look too good."

"You really know how to cheer a girl up, don't you" Jemmy grimaced. "I'm getting better. Tomorrow they're going to let me try walking again."

"That's good." Valorum smiled, thinking she must be one of the initiates. "I hope everything goes well for you…but I wonder, could you see your way to helping me on a small matter?"

Jemmy blinked in astonishment.

"Sure, if I can." She replied.

"Well, it's rather embarrassing to admit this but I'm afraid I'm somewhat lost." He looked about him.

"Easily done." Jemmy agreed.

"If you could point me in the direction of the refectory I would be eternally grateful."

"The…er. Yeah, wait a moment." Jemmy frowned, trying to think of all the places that Qui-Gon had taken her. "I think I can help you. Infact, I know I can. I can take you there if you'd like?"

Valorum sighed in relief.

"That would be very kind, young lady."

"That's OK. If anyone asks me what I'm doing out of bed I can say I was helping you." She turned the chair three quarters of the way round and headed off down the corridor. "Don't worry sir. We'll soon have you there."

The Chancellor had offered to push the child's chair but she had tenaciously refused, infact Valorum got the distinct impression that she liked having someone to talk to beside her.

"I imagine you're missing the company of your friends?" Valorum offered conversationally.

"My friends?" Jemmy looked somewhat pained.

"Your crèche mates. I'm sure they must miss you." 

"Oh…I'm not a Jedi," Jemmy shook her head, understanding the question at last. "No, I'm normal."

"Normal?" The Chancellor laughed.

"Yeah, you know. I can't make objects float through the air just by sneezing." The Corellian replied. "I was brought back on a mission by one of the Jedi and I'm staying here until I get better."

"Then what?" Valorum asked.

Jemmy spun the wheels round a little faster.

"I don't think we're too far away." was all the reply he got.

They continued to walk (or in Jemmy's case to wheel) their way towards a set of doors, which Jemmiah pointed to, halting the chair with a screech.

"See through there?" she indicated with an outstretched finger. "If you go through those doors, turn left and through the next door that's facing you then that should be where you need to go. And there should be plenty of space so just take a seat." Jemmiah smiled. "I don't imagine any one will disturb you."

Valorum nodded his thanks.

"I wish you a continued speedy recovery, young lady. Get well soon." The Chancellor gave a small bow and took his leave.

Jemmy groaned. The last thing she needed was a speedy recovery. Whilst she so desperately wanted to get away from the infirmary she knew that as soon as she was well enough she would be taken away to some children's orphanage. And she did NOT relish that prospect at all. She hadn't been joking when she said the food made her sick because it did, but at the back of her mind came the worrying thought that the sooner she ate then the sooner she would be better and forced to leave…

Pulling a miserable face, Jemmy decided to head out towards the gardens, hoping that the wheel wouldn't come off.

Or that nobody would notice the rather large scrape in the turbolift wall…

**********************

"She's not here!" Qui-Gon said as a small dose of panic threatened to overtake him. "Where could she have gone? I only came to visit for half an hour before I meet with Chancellor Valorum. Do you think she's alright?"

"Not by the time I've caught up with her." An-Paj promised. "I'm going to employ a Hutt to come and sit on her to keep her in that bed!"

"The wheelchair's gone." Qui-Gon nodded at the empty space by the wall.

An-Paj didn't really want to say it but knew that someone would have to bring the subject up.

"Qui-Gon, the girl is extremely badly behaved. She's disobedient and wilful. Are you sure you want to take her on?"

"Yes." Jinn answered without hesitation.

"But why?"

"I can't explain." Qui-Gon said simply. "She's become important to me. You've only got to see the sick child. She's also very bright and quick to learn. If you'd seen her on the way back from Nargotria you would have been more than impressed with her."

"It's still a big step you're wanting to take."

"I'm sure I'll manage." Jinn said grimly. "In the meantime I have to locate our runaway. I only hope she turns up before I meet with Valorum."

Right on cue there came a squeaking sound, and Qui-Gon and An-Paj turned to face a somewhat guilty looking Jemmiah as she wheeled herself in towards her bed.

"What have you done to that chair?" An-Paj demanded.

"The turbolift hurt it." Jemmy answered uncomfortably.

"And what about you?" asked Qui-Gon gruffly. "What's your excuse?"

Jemmy smiled to herself.

"I was showing a gentleman round the temple. He looked a bit lost so I thought I'd help him."

"Valorum?" Jinn wondered.

"Grey hair?" Jemmy asked the Jedi.

"Yes," Qui-Gon said, "where did you take him?"

"The refectory." Replied Jemmiah smugly. "See? All Corellians can navigate. Found it real easily, too."

"But I never showed you where the refectory was." Frowned Qui-Gon.

"You must have done…"

Now that she actually thought about it she wasn't too sure that Master Jinn had taken her to the refectory. Maybe she was getting mixed up with something else.

"Where did you show him?" An-Paj asked.

"Through the doors along from training rooms." Jemmy said in a small voice. "Then left again and…"

Qui-Gon's eyes went wide.

"You showed Chancellor Valorum into the room with the red door?" Qui-Gon swallowed.

"No sir." Jemmy replied.

"That's a relief." An-Paj sighed.

"It was the one with the blue door."

The two Jedi looked as if they'd been clubbed over the back of the head.

"The blue one?" The healer asked in disbelief.

"Yes. What have I done?" Jemmy pleaded.

Qui-Gon wondered how to put this.

"Well, in layman's terms you have managed to send Chancellor Valorum into the freshers at the end of the training suite instead of the refectory.

"That's not so bad."

"You've sent him into the women's freshers. That certainly ain't good." An-Paj grinned.

"The freshers?!?" Jemmiah gulped.

She buried her head in her hands.

To her amazement bot Qui-Gon and An-Paj were laughing uncontrollably.

"I take back everything I said." An-Paj grinned, pointing at the Corellian girl. "That was worth a few hours illicit freedom."

"I suppose I'd better go find him." Jinn smirked.

Jemmy didn't move from her crouched over position.

"Oh, hell's teeth. I…I told him to take a seat!"

Qui-Gon laughed all the harder.

"Young lady, you are worth your weight in gold." He grinned.

"Which is all the more reason to get you to eat something." Am-Paj rubbed his hands together. "This is your punishment for trying to escape from the infirmary."

He indicated a tray with a giant container with a lid cover on it. As he lifted the cover off there were two dishes to be seen. The first was a rather sickly looking sweet concoction smothered in Corelli Treacle.

"Doesn't look too bad." Jemmy admitted. "But I can't believe you're making me eat the horrid green slime again."

"I'm not." An-Paj smiled at the plate of evil smelling food. "This one is for Master Jinn."

"Sorry?"

"For wriggling out of that dare yesterday. Did you think I'd forgotten? I ate my share, now it's your turn. And I want to see that plate clean." The healer chuckled as he turned away.

Qui-Gon poked at the liquidated seaweed on the plate, wrinkling his nose.

"I won't tell anyone if you don't eat it." Jemmy whispered as he helped her back onto the bed.

"Thank you." Jinn smiled at her.

He paused for a moment.

"Jemmiah, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you. Just suppose that the chance for you to stay in the temple was offered to you. What would you think?"

He watched intently as the girl's face went from trance like shock to complete delight, throwing her arms round the back of his neck in a thin little bear hug.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jinn hugged her back, carefully. "Don't get too carried away. There are still a lot of things to be finalised. The search for any relatives you may have hasn't yet been abandoned. But I've been speaking with Master Yoda and he seemed to approve of the idea, in principle."

"I think I like Master Yoda." Jemmy murmured.

Qui-Gon chuckled.

"There are times when I almost like him myself." He smiled.


End file.
